Comments and suggestions

[BG405]

Re. hearing your own voice from an external source, I think it's maybe an instinctive thing to some degree. It wouldn't normally happen in nature.

I've just had another watch of this, without the Pub distractions and the ear-pods .. I'd say you're good to go with putting this up on YouTube, Odysee etc.. Very well put together IMHO. It's actually a good length at least for an initial video; maybe you might want to follow it up later with a more in-depth one perhaps covering stuff like GIMP, Kdenlive or a demo of what OBS can do .. I know OBS is quite popular with YouTube content creators.

Had I put it full-screen there, without the distractions, I probably would have noticed you using OBS as it's right there in the Panel!

I guess the MBP has an SSD in it, for it to be that responsive? I have one in my Lenovo T440 now, and the ancient Acer D255E netbook which is also much more usable as a result (with much longer battery life to boot).

One of these MBPs looks to be a good choice for another friend who we were drinking with last night; he's 28 years my senior (I'm 52 now)! And maybe my housemate at some point .. he's 75. (He has a T430 but the hinge post thread needs re-bonding; I tried gluing it but it didn't hold. He uses the little Acer at the Pub, as a stopgap, with Mint 21.3 Xfce on it).

Hopefully, such videos will save a few more of these from e-waste. I'd certainly like to get hold of one; a bit smaller and lighter to carry round in my backpack. (NB: using my laptop at the Pub has garnered more interest in Linux. I now know several others who use some flavour of Linux. The word is spreading!).

One of those machines will be going on the list to look out for. I for one hadn't really considered them before.

[wwblm]

One of these MBPs looks to be a good choice for another friend who we were drinking with last night; he's 28 years my senior (I'm 52 now)! And maybe my housemate at some point .. he's 75. (He has a T430 but the hinge post thread needs re-bonding; I tried gluing it but it didn't hold. He uses the little Acer at the Pub, as a stopgap, with Mint 21.3 Xfce on it).

Yes the MBP has an SSD in it. The 2012s are kind of the pinnacle of easy for a mac to service the RAM, Battery, and SSD. As demonstrated the 2011 is plenty serviceable. All the MBPs have great screens and work well with Mint until the ones with the T2 chip. That was the end of the road for Apple Hardware for me so I know nothing about those models and how to or if they work with Mint.

Am typing this on a Dell E7470. This one has the i7 with a 1920 x 1080 display that I think is on par with the display quality of the MBP. The dell is cheaper than a similar vintage MBP and MUCH MUCH easier to upgrade the RAM and storage. I like pre T2 MBPs a lot. However, as I'm learning more about the PC side of things it is unlikely that I will purchase any more MBPs. What I have learned is that with PCs there were many cheap ones sold. Mint makes them way better than windows but no where near what I have been used to with the MPB. However, I learned that sometimes the very same PC laptop was also sold with a great display and a processor to match the MPB. While even on the used market these will be more expensive than the cheap versions, many of these are also drop dead easy to service and still cheaper than the MPB so that is what I recommend.

[wwblm]

Now I'm just driving myself kind of nuts trying to make more progress and perhaps really muddied the waters when I bring up signed software. Also, kind of blew the timeline as now it is up to 5 Min. FWIW, here is my latest effort. LMK what you think.

http://wadebrezina.com/5min2011mbp.mp4

[wwblm]

Trying to remain optimistic. I truly believe a huge number of people would be very happy using Linux Mint and that it would be better experience for them than what they are currently using. I still think that when reality sinks in that they need to purchase a new computer there will be a much better opportunity. I know I can do a better job of demonstrating the benefits of Mint and explaining why creating so much e-waste is so wrong.
After having to boot the machine that I recorded the tour on in Windows in order to complete my taxes I felt compelled to post that tour video to my local Next Door community. The viewership was off the charts compared to this thread -- both in what I could see on my web server and what the stat counter on each site reports. Way more people in my neighborhood saw the video than people on this board yet the engagement was far greater here.

Perhaps Linux is really doomed to a tiny niche of computer enthusiasts and their closest friends / family. I'm not yet ready to throw in the towel but I am also far more discouraged than I used to be.

[coffee412]

Perhaps Linux is really doomed to a tiny niche of computer enthusiasts and their closest friends / family. I'm not yet ready to throw in the towel but I am also far more discouraged than I used to be.

Most of the issues that I see for people adopting linux are that they have a brand new computer and the hardware just has not been supported yet. However, You have to consider that the developers have done a great job on their support. I mean, If you look at linux perhaps 5 years ago or whatever it has really come a long way. The other area that I think trips people up is that they will pick a flavor that they really shouldnt as a new user. Then they get upset and walk away from linux.

If linux is going to only occupy a small base then that is fine with me. Obscurity and Security do pretty well together. I do worry alot about ubuntu. They seem to have lost their way and are becoming the windows of the linux flavors.